The centerpiece of DOR Commissioner Amy Pitter's DOR 360 campaign dominates the front page in the latest edition of the Boston Business Journal story detailing the agency's new Early Mediation Program — a cheaper, quicker and more collaborative method for resolving tax disputes.

During the next two weeks, appeals officers who will work as impartial mediators, will be trained in mediation techniques. Auditors and litigators will be taught how to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of their cases which will help them negotiate the agency's position. The pilot program will be offered to taxpayers who have more than a $1 million in dispute and want to settle their cases.

The program is modeled after the IRS' "Fast Track Settlement" program which reduced the time it took to settle large corporate tax disputes from over 700 days to 100 days through mediation.